Attachments
by TitaniumA
Summary: On Rory's first day at McKinley he sits at a lunch table with voluntary outcast Naomi Seymour.They become close and could be more, but with New Directions about its bound to be full of awkward situations and vocals. Eventual Rory/OC. R&R. HIATUS
1. Chapter 1

The table shook, and that was the first indication that there was someone trying to sit with her. Naomi looked up with her eyebrows raised. Sitting across from her was a boy dressed in green with oddly voluminous brown hair. He looked nervous and his mouth was moving as if he was talking.

He probably is, Naomi realised and popped the ipod buds out of her ears. She caught the end of a word and then the boy paused. She looked at him expectantly.

"Hi, I – um – I was wonderin' if I could sit here because I'm new yo' see and I don't really know anyone yet," he said giving her an unsure half-smile.

"And because this is the emptiest table, right?" Naomi answered. She wasn't aggressive, well, most of the time. She just knew people. He was new, the weakest link, and he needed to protect himself. So he went where he is less likely to be teased, and that means where there are less people.

The boy didn't register the comment, only that he has been allowed to stay sitting. He beamed at her and held his hand out over the table.

"I'm Rory Flanaghan. I'm an exchange student from Derry in Ireland," he smiled. Naomi shook his hand cautiously and drew hers back immediately. Now she had a place to match his accent that stood out like a sore thumb in an American high school.

"I'm stayin' with the Pierce's," he said conversationally. Naomi nodded, becoming less interested. One of the ear buds was already back where it belonged when, looking quite surprised he said, "Yo' didn't tell me your name."

She briefly considered with-holding the information, but decided against it. He was going to find out soon enough anyway. "Naomi Seymour." He opened his mouth to talk again but the music had started playing in her ears and he shut it and they ate lunch in silence.

,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.

Naomi was more than a little surprised when Rory sat opposite her again the very next day. She silently cursed technology. She had fallen asleep with her ipod in her ears last night and there had been no chance to recharge the battery this morning.

But she still frowned when she saw the remnants of slushie on his green clothes. He was clearly being picked on, and she had been just as bad yesterday by refusing to talk to him. Swallowing the last of her pride, she said,

"Rough morning, huh?"

His eyebrows shot up. "What do yo' mean?" He seemed honestly confused, which in turn confused Naomi.

"The – um – the slushie?" she explained her answer sounding like question. Rory smiled again as he understood.

"Oh, no, that wasn't too bad. Sure it's kinda chilly, but we get worse in Ireland. Never stops rainin'."

Silence fell again. She really needed to say sorry. Say something, say something, her mind drilled her. "So you're staying with Brittany Pierce's family," was all she could manage. A dopey grin spread across his face. He stayed like that for a minute.

"Um, Rory?"

"Oh sorry. Yeah, I'm stayin' with Brittany Pierce," he sighed dreamily, and Naomi actually found herself repressing a grin.

That's when it hit her. Apologise when he was distracted. Bingo. "By the way, I'm sorry about how I acted yesterday." Phew, she'd said it. It was out there, gone, done.

"No problem," he snapped back into reality as he saw the blond girl herself walking by. "I'll be seein' yo'." With that he hurried after Brittany.

At this point, as far as Naomi was concerned, she thought that would be the last time she needed to talk to Rory Flanaghan.

,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,

Naomi was in the hallway the next day, walking by a classroom, when she saw flash of green and burst of colour in it. Green everything. There was no doubt who was in the class. But what the hell was Rory doing with three boxes worth of cereal?

No, fight it Naomi, she thought to herself. She was done with him, wasn't she? But her curiosity got the better of her. She stepped into the room and looked on in confusion as Rory sat with a mountain of cereal in front of him.

"Um, what are you up to?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. Oh, she was so going to regret this unnecessary conversation later.

He looked up and beamed at her. Why did he always have to do that? It made it so much harder not to like him. She didn't want friends.

"Well, yo' see, Brittany wants a box of Lucky Charms that only contains marshmallows. It was her first wish," Rory said, still smiling. He picked up two mini marshmallows between his finger and thumb and dropped it in the Lucky Charms box.

"Her first wish?" Naomi said the words slowly and carefully, trying to see if there was some hidden meaning she was missing. Social outcasts weren't really 'down with the lingo'. But it seemed unlikely that someone from a different continent would be.

"She – um – she thinks I'm a leprechaun," he explained. His eyebrows twitched.

Naomi nodded. "Understandable. I'm pretty sure she still thinks I'm a crazy animal rights activist." Then Naomi cursed herself. He was bound to ask what she meant. So she took the liberty of saying, "Long story." Rory clearly could take the hint.

"But what's with the whole 'first wish' thing?" Naomi wondered out loud. She perched on the table and took a block of liquorice out of the Pile of Supposed Wholegrain Goodness and placed it in her mouth.

Rory blushed and lowered his blue-green eyes. "I don't know if I'm supposed to tell you. I'm not sure if it's a guy thing."

Naomi rolled her eyes. "Just spit it out. I'm hardly going to tell my numerous groups of friends."

One half of Naomi's head was screaming at her, telling her to leave the boy alone, who cared what was going on in his life?

The other half (the half that had a conscious and emotions) made her stay. It seemed she actually wanted to know. Or maybe it was her brain going funny again. That was probably more likely.

Rory cleared his throat and still blushing he quickly said, "I'm still a virgin and Brittany said if I granted her three wishes she'd give me her pot o' gold."

Naomi paused. "You were right. That is a guy thing. Well, not really, just something guys discuss with guys. So I'm going to pretend I heard none of that."

Rory blushed brighter and Naomi felt a twinge of guilt. But at least now he wouldn't broadcast it in the halls. Besides, it wasn't like Santana Lopez was going to let him near Brittany Pierce.

"Have fun with your, uh, marshmallow sorting," Naomi said awkwardly, finally getting out of the room. What had she gotten herself into?

,,,

Rory sat opposite her again. Naomi was exasperated. She thought she was finished with him, but she guessed having the conversation at what she now dubbed the Great Marshmallow Sorting of 2011 could be considered as sending mixed signals. Not that she was sending him any signals. Apart from not wanting to talk to him. Even if she – oh, you get the point.

He looked like he was deep in concentration. Naomi ignored him until he spoke,

"Why didn't yo' tell me?"

Fighting back the curiosity in her, she raised an eyebrow. He sighed, something that almost worried Naomi. From what she saw he never stopped smiling. But what right did she have to be worried about him?

"About Brittany," he explained. The corners of her mouth twitched. She hadn't thought he would be so forward about his affection. Clearly, Santana Lopez had shown him Brittany was spoken for.

"That she was les for Lopez? I thought you would've realised," Naomi said nonchalantly. She didn't see the big deal. What was the use in liking someone when they were eventually going to be taken from you anyway? Better he learned that sooner rather than later.

"I'm not exactly great with the ladies. The last girl I saw whose name I knew and wasn't related to me was my family's cow Betsy," he paused, considering. Naomi's eyebrows knitted together, not sure if he was being serious and not sure if laughing would offend him.

"But that doesn't count I guess. And that was before I came to America," he paused again. "But you could have told me instead o' me makin' a fool out o' myself. I looked worse than Siobhan O'Donnell's crop o' potatoes last year," he continued. "A friend would do that right?"

Naomi choked on the soda she was downing. "Friends? No, we're not friends." She didn't know why, but the idea frightened her. It was insane anyway.

His eyebrows twitched up and down in confusion. "We're not?"

She cleared the rest of the soda from her throat. "No, we're not."

"We're not friends," he repeated more emphatically. Naomi nodded, glad he finally understood. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," she insisted. She couldn't afford friends. Attachments led to expectations, and expectations led to disappointment and pain. And boy, she had enough of that crap to last a lifetime "I've been slushied before. You were slushied. I felt bad for you. The end."

"Speaking of slushies …" was all she heard and all she saw was a scarlet letterman jacket before bright red slushie forced her to close her eyes, because if there was one thing Naomi had learned, it was that slushies stung your eyes like hell.

She heard snickers and footsteps as the jocks strolled away. Wiping the ice out of her eyes, she glanced at the Irish boy. Now he was frowning.

"Are you okay? I would love to rap those lads upside with a hurl. The cheek o' them."

Naomi's face had gone as crimson as the slushie. She quickly stood up and went straight to the bathroom, leaving Rory sitting at the table bewildered. Ten minutes later, she was once again clean and embarrassed at her behaviour. If her Mom and Dad had – She really should apologise. Again

Plus she had given those people what they wanted – to embarrass her. She was not going to let that happen anymore.

Naomi stepped back into the cafeteria and looked towards their table. No, her table, she corrected herself. But he wasn't there. Naomi was about to sigh, but caught herself, forcing her mouth to let the air out in small breathes. She couldn't be more stupid.

How had she managed to get into a fight with the friend she didn't know she had?

_**I don't own any content you recognise. So here's the story. Not the one I promised on my profile, that's been put on hold, but here's somrthing I had to write. I know that there isn't much revealed about my OC, Naomi, but you'll find out soon enough. This will probably follow along with the episodes and I'll try to catch up to present time. I'll only include important things that concern my character, because there's no point in typing out the episodes. Sorry about the essay anyway. **_

_**Please review!**_


	2. Chapter 2

At lunch on Monday, Naomi sat at her usual table with a sigh. If her ear buds hadn't been in she would've heard the footsteps. The table shook and again she found herself looking into the face of a familiar Irish boy. Naomi drew her eyebrows together.

Was it déjà vu or had she travelled back in time? She took out her phone and quickly looked at the date. No, she was still in the right week.

Then she realised the obvious. He had abandoned his green clothes.

Maybe he as here to tell her what a bad friend she was? But Rory didn't seem like that kind of person. Then again, what was she to expect? She made a rule against having friends for a reason.

Naomi pulled her earphones out and waited for it to come. She deserved it in a way.

But Rory smiled and said, "Had a good weekend?"

Now at this point, Naomi was Confused with a capital C. Nothing added up.

"Um, it was okay."

Rory smiled wider, than looked down at his lunch and continued eating. Naomi just stared in disbelief. Did the boy have amnesia?

Oh, this was going to sound rude and stalker-ish at the same time. She steeled herself. But she had to know. Naomi opened her mouth and –

"By the way," Rory began, "Sorry about Friday."

Naomi's eyebrows shot up. Play along Naomi, her brain told her. She could do that. "Hmh?"

Rory's grin got smaller. "I went to find those hockey players that got yo' with the slushie." It was there and then that her eyebrows disappeared into her hair.

There was something wrong. He hadn't been bullied, they were trying to give her a friend then take him away. Those sly, stupid hockey players! They – Naomi realised how completely and utterly paranoid that sounded.

Maybe he was doing something nice? Someone was doing something nice for her? Well, there's a first for everything.

Ireland must be a nice place. People looking out for strangers they had only met days ago. That's what it sounded like if Rory was anything to go by.

"But, em," Rory scratched the back of his neck. "There – uh – there was more of them than me and …"

Naomi looked at the ground uncomfortable. It was clear what had happened, why he hadn't come back. He went through that for her?

"I'm sorry," she managed. Naomi felt guilty; she hadn't even bothered to look for him.

Rory brightened up immediately. "Oh no, there's no need for that. Finn Hudson came and they let me go."

"Finn Hudson?" Naomi's jaw hung loose. Rory must've had that kind of personality that drew people to him, whether it be her, a nobody that everyone thought was crazy, or Finn Hudson, quarterback. But then again, he was a member of the Glee Club.

Oh no. Rory had enough trouble going for him without being in Glee. Not that she had anything personal against them. It's just, well, how likely was it they were all going to be stars?

"And he brought me to the Glee Club! I didn't even know what that was, but it's great!" Rory was grinning so hard it looked like his cheekbones would be severely bruised in the morning.

One look at that smile told Naomi she would never be able to tell him that members of New Directions were bullied mercilessly.

"I only went on Friday, but I really like it!" his accent became stronger with his enthusiasm up until the point when she could not understand a word he was saying. Besides, she was pretty sure he'd started talking Irish at some point anyway.

,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,

Rory's lips were almost in a straight line when he sat across from her three days later.

"That bad, huh?" she asked. Rory cracked Naomi up most days. He was so dramatic with his happiness. Or maybe he was just that happy. But either way, his being sad was not good.

He shrugged and opened his mouth, but Naomi held up her finger to stop him.

"Just in advance, if it's about your virginity, I think I'll pass." She had intended it to be a joke and didn't think it was that un-funny, but Rory's reaction said something different. His cheeks turned scarlet and his face was blank as he looked down.

She had gotten too friendly. It was going to happen, after all, he had to go back to Ireland. Rory was so naïve and truly believed everybody had the potential to be nice.

Naomi needed to show him that he was wrong, but she wanted to break it to him slowly. If she showed him, maybe he wouldn't be crushed when his dreams are stepped on by some producer who doesn't care how much he likes singing.

She wanted to help him, but had he shied away from her already?

"Rory?" Naomi said, worried. Then it clicked. "Please tell me you didn't try to bribe another girl to sleep with you, because if I'm honest, that's really not cool."

Rory gaped at her, shocked. His face, if possible, turned redder, "Of course not! Don't be ridiculous."

Naomi's eyes softened. "Phew. I didn't think you would, but the silence wasn't exactly reassuring."

He shook his head, still looking mildly horrified. Now that she thought about it, it was quite horrifying. Rory could never do that anyway.

"It's Glee. Everybody's being really, well …" he trailed off.

Naomi's face was still blank.

"Never mind. It's a guy thing I guess," Rory sighed.

Naomi frowned. "Okay then." Rory was fiddling with his fingers, biting his lip. There was something he wanted to say. "Spit it out."

"What?" he seemed surprised.

"Go on, say it," she told him. He raised his eyebrows.

"I don't know what you're talkin' about."

Naomi shrugged and focused on her apple. It was red and crunchy, her favourite. She nibbled on it as she waited.

Rory cleared his throat slightly. "Well … Westside Story is being performed and, um, I'm in it. And – uh – we get two tickets each. Seein' as I don't really know anyone, and you're a friend, would you, um, come?"

Naomi's face was expressionless. It had been so long since she'd seen any sort of musical. Singing – it reminded her of_ them_. She had avoided singing and musicals since the incident.

But Rory was just as alone as her. His wide eyes looked at her, entreating. They were both loners and they should stick together, right?

Naomi smirked. "Sure. But I'm expecting West End quality Rory."

He beamed back. "I'm not so sure about that, but I can promise good tickets."

Naomi was happy about what she'd done. And if it costed her pain, hell, she was just going to have to suck it up.

_**I don't own any content you recognise. If you don't want to hear my jibber jabber please just skip this. Irish people speak English, but it's compulsory for children and teenagers to learn it as a second language (some children can be excused from it). But there are some areas in Ireland known as a Gaeltacht which are all Irish-speaking communities and great places to become fluent in Irish. Seeing as how Derry is close enough to a Gaeltacht area (Donegal), I'm going to pretend Rory speaks Irish. Ahem. Lecture over.**_

_**Hope you enjoyed. Thanks.**_


	3. Chapter 3

Naomi jumped up from her seat as the curtain closed. She intended to go back stage, to congratulate Rory, because, if she was honest, he deserved it.

However, the audience behind her had a different idea. That's right, behind her. Rory had gotten her first row seats like he said. The not so intelligent audience thought she was giving a standing ovation, and did the same. By the time she had realised what was going on, she was forced to stand and clap, a pointless waste of energy.

As the crowd settled down and started filing out, Naomi forgot her idea of going back stage. Apart from being near impossible, thanks to the multitudes of people, she didn't know if it was a good plan anyway.

The reason for her indecision was Rory's smile as he was on stage.

Before the performance of West Side Story, Naomi had thoroughly considered leaving. She had come because she said she would, she never said she would stay. It was below the belt, she knew, but staying, well … it scared her.

What if she enjoyed it? After her parents died, she had done her best not to enjoy herself. She wasn''t looking for attention. In fact, no attention was exactly what she wanted.

She didn't want to grow close to anyone again. She had been eleven when her parents were killed in a car crash. It sounded like so long ago, but it was only four years. And whenever she thought of them, it felt like someone was ripping her open and slashing at her heart.

The pain was as fresh as if it was yesterday. She could never go through that again.

Her mother loved musicals and singing. Even if there was silence, her mother would think up a tune to hum. Her father would softly sing Naomi to sleep if she had a nightmare. Music hurt to hear.

And that's why she listened to it, to remind her not to love someone, even as a friend.

Just as Naomi had stood up to flee, the curtains had opened and the musical had started. Rory was on stage in no time, and Naomi had never seen him happier, which was saying something.

He was so happy, and Naomi didn't want to destroy that. But she had to protect him from being hurt like she was. It was manipulative. She knew, but she was trying to help.

So instead of fighting her way through the crowd, she turned and headed home to her aunt's.

,.,.,.,.,.,.,

He was already at the lunch table when she arrived in the cafeteria. Naomi got her tray and grinning, approached him from behind. Balancing the tray on one arm (only after making sure there were no jocks around to push it to the floor), she grabbed his shoulder, making him jump.

Rory twisted his head around quickly, but grinned when he saw Naomi.

"Howya doin'?" Rory asked, turning forwards again as she sat across from him.

"Not too bad. Sorry I couldn't see you after the show," Naomi said, then an evil thought popped into her head. "I'm sure you were too busy signing autographs anyway."

Rory's eyes lit up. "I'm dedicated to my fans." Naomi laughed then, properly laughed.

He looked worried for a second. "But was it good? Was I in tune?"

Naomi sighed disbelievingly. "Are being serious?" He nodded, waiting for the answer.

She rolled her eyes. "Yes Rory." He beamed, then seemed unsure.

"Wait, are you bein' sarcastic?"

"Rory, if you couldn't sing, I'd tell you, and you'd be crying somewhere."

He shook his head at Naomi's last comment. Suddenly he tilted his head in that way off his when he was thinking. He swallowed, "Do yo' ever think about joining Glee?"

Naomi froze, but smiled, not wanting to worry him. "You don't even know if I can sing."

Rory gave a smile but waved her comment away. "Everyone can sing, just … some not in tune." Naomi grinned again.

"Not my thing Rory."

He swallowed again. "We – um – we're having a mash-up competition with the Troubletones. Maybe yo' should come and watch."

Naomi rolled her eyes. "No thanks." His grin drooped, and he looked at the ground. He looked so disappointed. She knew that she should tell herself that Rory needs to get used to disappointment, but Naomi knew there and then that she would give in. She might as well agree now and pick up what little dignity she had left.

"You and your sad puppy look!" she huffed indignantly. "Fine, fine! I'll go!" The mischievousness in his eyes shone.

,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,

The bell rang, and the end of school came to an end with what felt fireworks. Naomi was shuffling behind all the students towards the door when the crowd split to allow someone through. Naomi saw in the lead was Noah Puckerman with Finn Hudson not far behind him.

It was easy to see why the crowd had budged out of the way. They were tall and on the football team. Put that together and they were respected. Except for the fact they were in Glee Club. But people still let them pass.

Another boy followed them. They all had gym bags slung across their shoulders. Naomi had turned to the doors when she realised who the boy had been.

The reason she didn't recognise Rory was probably because of his expression. It was set and determined. Naomi paused for a second, wondering if she should go after him.

Puckerman and Finn Hudson had been wearing similar expressions. It couldn't mean anything good.

"Rory!" she called out as she turned around. Naomi jogged down the now empty hallway were the group had stopped and turned around.

"What's up? School's done," she said, eyes warily flicking towards the two football players/glee club members.

"We're goin' to a dodgeball game," Rory said, not seeing the danger in his words. "New Directions versus the Troubletones." Naomi's eyes widned. The boy clearly had a death wish. But he didn't seem to think so.

"Naomi, this is Finn Hudson and Noah Puckerman."

"Puck," the very mohawk possessing man said. Hudson held out his hand and Naomi shook it quickly.

"Pleasure to meet you," she said sarcastically. "Are you sure you boys no what you're doing?"

"We're gonna crush the Troubletones, that's what," Puckerman – Puck stated, slamming his fist into his palm.

Hudson looked confused for a moment and his eyebrows scrunched together. "Rory was saying you were thinking about joining Glee." Naomi's eyes narrowed. She glared at Rory who gave a small, apologetic shrug.

"You can come along if you want," he continued. Naomi tilted her head considering.

"Ok, but no way am I gonna step in to save your asses."

Puckerman – Puck nodded. "Wouldn't want you to."

,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,

Naomi sat in the stands and winced every time a New Directions member went down. And when Naomi said went down, she meant was slammed to the ground with multitudes of dodgeballs, their dignity going down with them.

Only Rory and Finn were left. She bit her lip as the Troubletones rounded on Rory. They pummelled him with balls and he tried to cover his face. Naomi's legs seemed to work on her own as she jumped up from her seat.

The cloud lifted from her thoughts as quickly as it came. Quickly she looked around, desperately hoping no one saw. She glanced towards Rory, who's nose was bleeding.

Suddenly she was angry. He was only fifteen! And they hit him so hard his nose bled.

Naomi had to force her legs to walk down to the court slowly and calmly. She wasn't even looking as the Troubletones took Finn out. She waited by the walls.

New Directions looked glum as they approached. She tossed a couple of water bottles to them.

"It was a good game, but you guys didn't have much of a chance," she said, trying to be sympathetic, but failing. The Glee Club turned and began talking with each other.

She handed Rory a towel. He tried to mop up some of the blood but smeared some on his cheek. Naomi rolled her eyes. She grabbed the towel off him and a left-over bottle of water, dipped an edge of the towel in the water. She reached up to his face and wiped it off. Then she froze as she realised what she had done. He was looking at her bewildered.

Throwing the towel back on top of the water bottles, she walked around him to face the Troubletones, who were celebrating. Santana Lopez was laughing and jumping and the rest of the team looked smug.

Rachel Berry stood beside them and looked devastated. Between her and Rory, Naomi felt awkward. "Do you want me to go over there and beat one of them up or something?" She looked at Rory as she asked. She was still annoyed they had picked on him. Well, maybe slightly more than annoyed.

"As hot as it would be to see yo' and those girls fighting, it's probably not the best idea," Rory mused. Naomi gave him a strange look and Rachel smiled slightly.

"Whatever do you mean Rory?" she asked sweetly. His eyes widened as he took in the looks the two girls were giving him. He seemed worried that he had offended Naomi.

"Not – not that yo' would be the hot one, I meant the others," he tried to explain, but Naomi then raised her eyebrows questioningly. Rory cleared his throat and scratched his neck and Rachel's grin grew wider.

"Not that you're not hot or anything –" he was cut off by Kurt Hummel who walked over and patted him on the back.

"I'd shut up right about now Rory."

"Um, yes, uh, right," he mumbled and shuffled away.

"Talk about digging your own grave," Kurt said, rolling his eyes dramatically. Naomi gave a distracted smile, but her mind was focused on what just happened.

,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,

As the week continued, Naomi dismissed what had happened at the dodgeball game. She still went to the mash-ups though. New Directions were good, but as she exited the auditorium after the Troubletones performance, she had to admit, they were serious competition.

"So," Rory said, clearly trying not to think about how good they were. Oh, and the massive smack Finn Hudson had received.

"There is a fun fair in town, and some of the Glee Club are goin'. Yo' want to come?" he continued. Naomi thought it was a nice gesture but she had other plans.

She smiled apologetically. "Sorry Rory, but I'm busy."

He nodded, understanding. "No problem. See yo' Monday." He shot her a final grin and was out the door.

She had made a decision while watching the Troubletones performance. New Directions were down a few members, so she was going to help out. And what a surprise Rory would get on Monday.

Because her plans this weekend were to practice an audition song for Glee Club.

_**I don't own any content you recognise. Hope you enjoyed. Thanks to everyone who's reviewed, favourite and put this story on alert so far. Please review!**_


	4. Chapter 4

It was Monday morning and Rory was standing with his back to her at his locker. Naomi really couldn't resist as she quietly walked up behind him and twisted his keys off the chain he had attached to his belt. She said hello, making him turn around and complete the process.

"Top o' the mornin' to yo'," he said grinning as usual. Then he frowned, "You're very bright for a Monday mornin'. Should I be worried?"

Naomi grinned and waved him away. "Of course not."

"That's not exactly reassurin'."

"Pfft. Don't be ridiculous."

He pulled some books out of his locker and swung his bag around. "Glee Club is on durin' lunch, so I can't sit with yo'. We have to pull extra practices for Sectionals."

That's when a thought hit her, a rare moment of brilliance. "Why do you sit with me at lunch?"

"What?" he didn't look at her, just continued to sort out his books.

"Why do you sit with me and not your friends from New Directions?"

Rory looked at her briefly, seemingly confused. "Because you're my friend and yo' shouldn't have to sit alone. I'm sure the guys from Glee wouldn't mind yo' sittin' with them, but I know you'd say no."

"Oh," Naomi mumbled, "Um, thanks."

"'Don't be ridiculous'," he repeated her words mockingly, trying to put on an American accent. Naomi burst out laughing. He sounded like a thirty year old version of Mickey Mouse in pain.

"Remind me to never let you become an impressionist."

"But I thought my Puerto Rican accent was good in West Side Story?" the comment came out sounding like a question. Naomi bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself from laughing. She said his performance had been good, but not necessarily his attempt at an accent.

"Yes Rory, yes it was."

Rory smiled, luckily not catching the sarcasm, and looked at his key chain. He patted his trouser pockets, searching for the keys. Naomi laughed again and threw him the keys, saying, "Think fast."

"I don't know how the Pierce's trusted you with them," she grinned.

"I don't know how I trusted you," he joked, but the words brought her up short. He shouldn't trust her, not with her planning to join New Directions for reasons that were only hers to know. She just didn't want his dreams crushed.

"Yeah," she said, distracted.

"Naomi?" he asked, noticing her change in tone. He looked at her, but Naomi was too preoccupied with her thoughts.

"Yeah. You know, I'll see you later," she muttered and walked off, leaving Rory wondering what he did.

::::::::::

"So, do you know if your friend is joining Glee?" Finn asked him, wiping his face with a towel.

Rory shrugged, his eyebrows drawing together in thought. "I don't know. I was talkin' to her yesterday mornin' but then she avoided me for the rest of the day. Well, I don't know for sure, but I haven't seen her."

Rory looked up at his American friend's face and it looked guarded. Finn turned and pulled out a shirt from his gym bag. Puck answered his unasked question when he said,

"I'm not surprised if your friend is Emo Seymo."

"If she's what?" Rory asked out loud this time.

"That's not cool man," Finn told Puck over his shoulder, who nodded, conceding.

"I guess."

Rory looked on. "I'm still as confused as a snake hidin' under Saint Patrick's bed."

Puck grimaced. "Sorry man. You know, Seymour – Seymo? It's just a nickname some people came up with for her after her parents died."

Rory froze completely. "What?"

Puck and Finn became still in turn. Finn turned around slowly. "You mean you didn't know?"

Rory was still in shock, and confused but managed to nod. These guys had known her much longer than he had, so there was zero chance of them being wrong. But – he really didn't understand.

With the worst timing ever, Artie came in between Puck and Finn, who were glancing at each other, unsure of what to say. His happy face stood out.

"What's with all the glum faces?"

Finn whispered in his ear. Artie's mouth opened slightly. Rory was still waiting for them to continue, but when it was clear they wouldn't, he asked something completely irrelevant that had been nagging him from the start of the conversation.

"What's 'emo' mean?"

The three guys looked at him like he was crazy. Finn and Puck seemed to have a silent discussion, then Puck slapped the back of Artie's wheelchair, saying,

"We'd better be going Artie." The two of them disappeared pretty fast.

"Four years ago her parents died. She was eleven or twelve I think," Finn set the scene. "I was in eight grade," he said like this explained his confusion.

"The only reason I know was that her teacher, Miss Bloggen, knew a zookeeper and brought them there. It also turned out she was on drugs, but yeah, they went to the zoo."

"Naomi's parents died about three weeks before. She was emotional, obviously. And some jerk said something, dissed her parents," Finn looked at his feet. Rory's face hardened. It had only been four years ago. He wished he had known, so he could be nicer or so he wouldn't have talked about his Mammy at every chance he got.

"So, understandably, she freaked. But maybe went into over-kill mode."

Rory nodded. At least that sounded like the Naomi he was friends with. The Naomi that would fight back. "What did she do?" He was expecting her to have beaten him around a bit.

"She, um," Finn paused. "She tossed him over the fence and into the penguin enclosure. When his friend yelled some things at her, she, uh, she – she stabbed him in the hand with a pen." Rory's mouth dropped.

"No charges or anything serious happened, but this is a small town and the story kinda spread. Before you came she barely talked to anyone unless she had to."

The locker room was empty now. Finn threw his bag around his shoulder and gave him a cautious glance. "See you around."

Rory sat in the locker room alone, thinking what the hell was he to do.

::::::::::

"What should I do Mammy?" Rory asked into the phone, sitting on his bed and leaning back against the wall.

_Well, Naomi seems like a nice girl, _his Mammy answered. Rory rolled his eyes.

"She is but I don't know what to do."

_Why should you act any different? _ His mother replied. It probably seemed so simple to her.

"Doesn't she deserve to know that I know?" There was a knock on the door ownstairs, but Rory could hear Mrs Pierce going to get it

_Calm down son. I think she'll know somethin' is wrong with yo'. From what yo' told me it sounds like yo' have been avoidin' her_. His Mammy was right. He was avoiding her. And he felt awful for it.

"I haven't. Well, not really…"

_Men. Are yo' sure, because that's what it sounds like to me._

"Well on Monday I said I would be practicin' for Glee a lot."

_There's no need to lie to me.I know yo' are sorry._

"Ah, yo' are right. What do I do now?"

_Act towards her like yo' always have. Maybe beg for her forgiveness first. _There was a knock on Rory's bedroom door. M Pierce looked in. She smiled kindly.

"Rory, a friend of yours is here." She moved aside for Rory to find Naomi standing there, arms crossed and lips pursed. But when Mrs Pierce turned around to her, she smiled.

"Do you mind if I come in Rory?" she asked sweetly. Much too sweetly. Rory was terrified. His eyes did a quick scan of his room to make sure there were no pens in reach. There weren't, so Rory nodded dumbly.

Mrs Pierce smiled and closed the door behind her.

Rory was already wincing in his head, but Naomi said, "Rory, I didn't know how to bring it up in conversation."

He stared at her blankly. "What?"

"Puckerman told me. It's not that I didn't trust you. The whole school knows. Bu if I told you, I would have to remember the day I found out they were gone," her throat tightened. "And I couldn't Rory."

Rory was stupefied. A cough his mother gave on the still connected cell phone in his hand brought him back to the real world.

"No," he began. "I'm the one who should be sorry. I'm sorry for avoidin' yo'." Naomi gave him a cautious look. He decided to chance his arm. "Friends?"

"Yeah, sure," she said in a flat tone. She cleared her throat. His mother coughed again on the phone, trying to get his attention. Naomi's eyes zeroed in on it.

"Were you on the phone?"

He half shrugged. "Maybe?" His mother coughed again. It sounded even more fake than the other times. "To my Mammy?"

"You left your mom on the line?" Naomi asked, incredulous. He winced and nodded at the same time. Naomi shook her head. "Rory, you'd better stand on the other side of the room, 'cos right now I'm doing everything in my power not to come over and give you a whack on the back of your head."

He nodded and held the phone up to his ear.

_So?_

"So what?" Naomi shot him a look that clearly said, 'Be rude to your mother once more and I'll forget about penguins and just hurl you into a lion enclosure'.

_Did she forgive yo'?_

"Yes." He was grateful for her advice but he would tell her after Naomi left. She didn't need to see he had been telling people about her.

_Can I speak to her? _Rory froze for a second. It might be rude to ask, but Naomi seemed not to mind he was talking to his mother. There was no harm in asking, right?

"Um, Naomi?" She looked at him piercingly. "Would you like to say hi?" Why did he just say that? It sounded like he was treating her like a kid. Wow, that was stupid. And now he was going to have to suffer the consequences.

But Naomi surprised him for the second time today when she held out her hand for the phone. They started out talking politely but got really chatty after a while. Rory sat on his bed and listened to one confusing side of the conversation.

Naomi was laughing at something his mother said, and now Rory was worried. He really hoped she wasn't telling her about the time when he was convinced that knights rode cows into battle, not horses. But his stomach curled as he heard Naomi say, "Yes, he still does!"

Not very reassuring.

Eventually, he got the phone back. Naomi realised she had been here half an hour and mostly talked to Rory's mom. She managed to keep a straight face as she apologised to Rory and headed home, saying, "See you in school."

"What did yo' tell her?" he asked his Mammy slowly.

_Why does it matter? She's only a friend, isn't she? _Rory knew she was teasing him.

"Yes."

_Oh, I'm sure. What was it yo' were tellin' me a week or two ago? Something about how she looked very pretty when she went to see yo' in West Side Story?_

"It's America," he was trying to cover up. "Everybody's good-lookin'."

_Just keep tellin' yourself that, son._

_**I don't own anything. Sorry this took me so long to write. Thanks for all the reviews, favourites and alerts that are being given to this story.**_

_**P.S. Reviews are almost as good as cake. And I love cake *hint hint*.**_


	5. Chapter 5

Looking at situation in front of her, Naomi realised she should have known this would happen once word got around that she'd joined New Directions. The three hockey players looked at her and Rory menacingly.

They both backed up to the lockers. Naomi did feel bad that they caught him with her. But then again, it was partly his fault.

** FLASHBACK **

"No. Rory, I change my mind."

"Don't be ridiculous."

"I can't do it!" Naomi begged Rory. He was pushing her towards the choir room and she was grabbing on to anything trying to pull herself back.

"Come on!" Naomi had latched on to a door frame and was clinging on to it for dear life.

"You can't make me! This could be classified as bullying you know." Rory, who was panting from exertion, started trying to peel her fingers off the door frame.

"If yo' think this is bullyin' yo' haven't seen anythin' yet. What are yo' so scared of?"

Naomi stood up straighter. "I'm not scared. What are you talking about?"

"It sure looks like it to me." Naomi decided there and then that Rory was evil. He knew she wouldn't back down now. He had an innocent smile on his face, but Naomi saw through it.

"So you're just going to throw me to the lions of Glee Club? Well, that's fine by me because I eat lions for breakfast!" Naomi said to Rory indignantly. She started to march to the choir room. Rory hurried to catch up with her.

"Yo' know that didn't make much sense."

Naomi sighed. "I'm aware of that fact, yes."

Rory's grin widened. "Well, there's no turnin' back now."

Naomi, alarmed at his tone of voice, looked down the hall to see Tina Cohen-Chang and Mike Chang approaching. She grinded her teeth together.

"Did yo' just growl?" Rory whispered to her.

"What? No."

Tina gave Naomi a curious smile. "So you are joining New Directions then?"

Naomi knew she had no choice now. "Yes," she smiled back.

"I'm Tina and this is my boyfriend Mike," she introduced. Mike gave a wave.

They entered the choir room as Naomi threw Rory a dirty look. "You go in first." Rory rolled his eyes but went in ahead of her.

There was only about six students there and Mr Schuester. "Come on," Rory muttered. He brought her over to Mr Schuester. Naomi tended just to shut up and sit at the back in Spanish, so she didn't really know how he would react with her wanting to join and sectionals being this week.

"Mr Schue," Rory called. The teacher turned around and smiled. "What can I do for you Rory?"

"My friend Naomi knew we were short on people for sectionals and offered to join." Naomi wanted to hug Rory for wording the sentence the way he did. Mr Schuester looked interested.

"Can you sing?"

Naomi took a breath and said confidently. "I'd like to hope so."

Mr Schue grinned. "Do you want to audition?"

"Sure. But, um," Naomi hesitated. "Does it matter that a guy sings it?"

"It's not a problem." He looked around. Naomi hadn't realised that more people had filed into the choir room while she was talking to Mr Schuester.

"Finn isn't here, which is strange, but you can sing now if you want." Naomi thanked him. She went over to the instrument players to ask if they knew her song. She was planning to sing it slightly higher than the original, and they said it would be no problem, which she was thankful for.

"Okay Glee Clubbers I know we're missing two people, for whatever reason, but Naomi here is going to audition."

The one and only Quinn Fabray, her blonde hair short and looking confused, stated, "Mr Schue, we're down three people. We'll take anyone we can get, tone-deaf or not."

"I don't mind singing," Naomi said. Quinn shrugged and the other members nodded.

The music started and Naomi breathed in deeply.

_We sleep all day and we drink all night  
>We are not wasting our time<br>We refuse to hide, we're going out tonight_

_Single in San Diego - 6 weeks just wasting time.  
>We moved in with the boys and left it all behind<br>So what's wrong with this life you say it's not enough,  
>What does it feel like? You think you're better than us.<em>

She looked at the faces of the students and saw they were smiling and nodding their heads to the music. Naomi was relieved. Rory grinned at her and gave her a thumbs up. Naomi grinned back at him.

_'Cause we sleep all day and we drink all night  
>We are not wasting our time,<br>We refuse to hide, we're going out tonight_

_Lonely in San Diego, just don't let it get you down  
>'Cause I've been there before but I know better now.<br>Just one last storm before the calm while we're still young  
>Yeah we know yeah we understand what needs to be done.<em>

The song was coming to an end. She sang softly,

_'Cause we sleep all day and we drink all night  
>We are not wasting our time,<br>We refuse to hide, we're going out tonight_

The members of New Directions and Mr Schuester began clapping. "You're in, no question," Quinn called out.

"Of course," Mr Schuester seconded. "Welcome to New Directions." Naomi smiled and sat beside Rory, who gave her a hug.

"Yo' were great," he said happily and a little bit surprised.

** END FLASHBACK **

"I hope you have a song picked out to sing at your funeral," one with abnormally large hair said. Naomi and Rory were unsure if he was being serious.

The other hockey players chuckled. "Yeah, maybe we'll get the guy who makes the coffins to put a microphone in for you."

"That doesn't make sense," Naomi muttered.

"What was that?" Pineapple Hair Dude One said.

At this point Pineapple Hair Dude Three said, "I think it was 'that'll cost five pence'."

Number Two had a thoughtful look on his face. "That's some sort of money, isn't it?"

Naomi's heart was in her throat. She really didn't want to walk home to her aunt's covered in trash. Pineapple Hair Dude Three said, "Yeah, in Italy or something."

"No way dude! Pence are in Norway!" Number One exclaimed. They turned hallway around and started bickering with each other.

Naomi glanced at Rory, who couldn't believe the hockey players were really that thick.

"Get ready to run," she whispered to him. He nodded.

Pineapple Hair Dude Two turned around to Rory and demanded, "Do they use pence in Mexico or Ireland or wherever you're from?"

His eyebrows scrunched together. "No, they use pounds and pence in England."

"That's what I said!" Number Three said excitedly. They rounded on Naomi and Rory again.

Naomi executed the plan. She tried her best to look confused and surprised as she exclaimed, "That's a weird place to put a piano."

She didn't know whether it was because they hockey players were so stupid, or because this wouldn't be an odd occurrence at the start of September, as believe it or not, pianos popped up around the place, but the hockey players looked behind themselves in bafflement.

"RUN!" Naomi shouted, and she and Rory bolted down the corridor. It was a couple of seconds until the hockey players realised they'd been tricked and ran after them.

Rory, knowing they would be caught, pulled Naomi into an empty classroom as they rounded a corner. They both listened at the door, Naomi biting her cheek to stop herself laughing and Rory grinning broadly and holding his finger to his lips.

A second later the hockey players stopped outside the door.

"Where are they?"

"How should I know? Keep looking!"

Their footsteps indicated they took off and after waiting a moment to make sure they were gone, Naomi and Rory burst out laughing.

Rory gave Naomi a high five and from there pulled her into a half-hug. Naomi was dismayed when her head bumped off his chest. She really hated being short.

"That was gas!" Rory chuckled.

Naomi had managed to stop laughing, but her cheeks were killing her. "Tell me about it!"

,.,.,.,.,.,.,

Naomi was surprised later on that week when she found herself nervous for sectionals. She knew the songs and she was just to sing along, but there were butterflies in her stomach. The again, she definitely wasn't as bad as Rory.

He was a nervous wreck, and every five minutes he would ask a different member of the Glee Club to take his solo. They adamantly refused of course, and Naomi did feel a twinge of guilt from the fact she found the look on Rory's face amusing.

She glanced at the other New Directions members. Her eyes paused on Sam Evans. The blond teenager had come back to Glee after her audition. She knew from singing 'Red Solo Cup' that he had a good voice. She also knew that he had proposed a … different style of dancing.

Just because Naomi didn't talk to people didn't mean she was completely asexual. Still a virgin, yes, but hey, she was only fifteen. After the accident, until last year she hung around with a bunch of goths and emos. Her first boyfriend wasn't exactly something she found pleasure in looking back on.

So Naomi had been all for seeing some of these new moves. Naomi had no feelings for any of the guys in Glee, but she was teenage girl. She wasn't going to complain if Sam and Puck wanted to demonstrate these moves.

However, after Rory's attempt, she decided the maybe it wasn't a good idea. She couldn't keep a straight face as her best friend tried his hardest to look sexy.

"Don't forget the bow tie," a voice said behind her and draped said bow tie over her shoulder. She spun around to see Blaine and Kurt, buzzing with excitement.

She smiled. "I'm sure there is no chance of either of you forgetting to do so."

Kurt put his hand to his heart dramatically. "Please! Like my mind would ever stray from clothes!"

Naomi gave a shy smile as Blaine said, "Unless you're with me," wiggling his eyebrows.

"Touché," Kurt answered and gave him a quick peck on the lips. Naomi wandered away, leaving the couple to their banter. She found herself beside Tina.

"Is it strange that I'm nervous and all I'm doing is swaying and singing along?" she asked her. Naomi knew she'd been in New Directions since the beginning. Tina smiled kindly.

"No way. I'm not sure how many times I've sang in front of people and I still get nervous," she reassured her. Naomi grinned at her in thanks.

"Would you do me a favour?" Tina asked after a moment. Naomi nodded, curious.

"Will you make sure Rory's okay?" She looked apologetic. "It's just, he looks like he's gonna throw up."

Naomi agreed and walked over to her Irish friend. "Deep breaths Rory, deep breaths."

Reassuring him that preforming was okay and fun was the complete antithesis of her plan, but Naomi couldn't stand to see her usually cheery friend like this. She almost thought he was green for a second.

"I can't do this, I can't do this, I can't do this," he chanted. Naomi sighed, and hit the back of his head.

"Ow!" he exclaimed, rubbing his head, "What was that for?"

Naomi held up her hands in surrender. "Hey, I didn't want to, but you needed to snap out of it."

"I can't!"

Naomi scratched her neck, unsure of what her next move should be. "Just, um … What is it they say? … Uh, oh yeah! Just imagine everybody in their underwear." It took her a second to realise what she just said, and then she was forced to bite her cheek to stop herself from laughing at Rory's face. She couldn't help but tease him more.

"Actually," Naomi mused, "Maybe it's best if you don't. After all, Brittany's out there and we don't need you drooling in the middle of the song." Even Rory grinned a bit at that. He punched her arm playfully.

"We're just friends," he insisted, then paused. "Or we were, before the Glee competition got serious."

Naomi patted her friend's shoulder hesitantly. She wished Rory was his usual smiley self. It was kind of unnerving when he wasn't and it felt like a kick in the gut.

But then why was it, after sectionals and Brittany, Santana, Mercedes and Sugar Motta came to New Directions, that something in her stomach jumped when she looked at Rory?

_**Song/s Used:**_

_**San Diego Song by The Coronas**_

_**I own zero, nada, nothing. Strange last line but I had writers block. Yes that is my pitiful excuse for this being slowly updated to. Thanks to all those who reviewed. I was shocked and delighted to see the increase in reviews. And … secretly … whenever I get a review *looks around sneakily* … I … smile like this :D !**_

_**All of that, in short, translates to – 'Please review!'**_


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